Method and apparatus for packaging articles of varying size serially



Sept. 23, 1969 c. R. MACK 3,468,097

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES OF VARYING SIZE SERIALLY Filed April 21, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

CLlFFORD R. MACK BY J gmh wmdj ATTORNEYS Sept. 23, C. R. MACK METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES OF VARYING SIZE SERIALLY Filed April 21, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 5 FIG.7 A

r w n INVENTOR. CLIFFORD R. MACK ATTORNEYS Se t. 23, 1969 c. R. MACK 3,468,097

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES OF VARYING SIZE SERIALLY Filed April 21, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. l3 A 60 L FIG. l4 E/ Vfl a n JNVENTOR.

CLIFFORD R. MACK ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,468,097 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PACKAGING ARTICLES 0F VARYING SIZE SERIALLY Clifford R. Mack, 25 Lockwood Drive, Old Greenwich, Conn. 06870 Filed Apr. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 632,818 Int. Cl. B65b 1/04, 3/04, 7/04 US. Cl. 53-37 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for the serial packaging of articles of different dimensions in random order. Each article is first loaded in a special bag. The bag has one face wall projecting beyond the inserted article a distance which is uniform for all sizes of articles, and a parallel face wall projecting a variable distance, as required by the size of the article sufficient to overlap the first projection when they are folded to form the bag closure.

The first face wall of a bag of any size is located in a fixed plane, and the bottom is located a distance equal to the width of the inserted article from a fixed plane perpendicular to the first plane. The first and second projections are then folded onto the second plane to overlap one another, and sealed.

Background of the invention There are many packaging operations in which it would be highly advantageous to handle a series of variouslysized articles in whatever random order they may become available. For example, in the manufacture of mattresses and box springs, groups of differently-sized products normally arrive in the shipping room in irregular order. It has been conventional practice to accumulate a large group of items of one size, and then to package that group in one continuous run. This procedure is dictated by the necessity to readjust the machinery when the package size is altered. A number of adjustments are necessary, including changing the strokes of the folding tuckers which close the face and side flaps of the box, and the positions of the package supports. However, a great deal of expensive storage space is required to accommodate a sufficient number of items of any given size to permit economical change-over of the machinery. Furthermore, scheduling of deliveries is complicated by the delays involved in accumulating large numbers of a given item.

Summary of the invention It is the primary object of this invention to provide a packaging method and apparatus which makes it feasible to package variously-sized articles in whatever random order they may become available, without having to discontinue operations for adjusting machinery. Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear as the following description proceeds.

My improved method involves the selection or preparation of bags or boxes having a bottom, parallel side walls, and parallel face walls, which are conventional except that the face walls do not extend into projecting flaps of equal width for forming top closures. Instead, one of the face walls terminates in a projecting fiap which extends a fixed distance beyond the width of the article which the bag receives, and this distance is made uniform for all of the various sizes of articles, by appropriate dimensioning of the various corresponding bags. The projecting flap of the second face wall extends a variable distance which depends on the height of the article; it must exceed the difference between this height dimension and the distance of the first protrusion. This is necessary so that the second "ice protrusion will be sufficiently wide to overlap the first when these protrusions are folded over to close the package.

After an article is inserted into its corresponding bag, an initial step which is carried out in a conventional way and in itself forms no part of this invention, the first face wall is positioned in a predeterimned face-locating plane. As this plane will be the same for each package, the various bags may be variably elevated as necessary to bring the first face wall into the face-locating plane; of if the bags are inverted, with the first face wall down, they may simply be brought to a packaging station on a flat surface such as a conveyor belt. As a concurrent step, the bottom of the bag is positioned at a distance from a predetermined top-locating plane, which distance is equal to the width of the selected article; that is, the exposed top surface of the inserted article is brought into coincidence with this second locating plane. It will be noted that the two locating planes are mutually perpendicular. After thus locating the bag, the first and second projections are folded over the edges of the article onto the top-locating plane so that the projections overlap one another. They are then sealed together to complete the top closure. Side flaps are generally formed from extensions of the side walls, and may be folded coincident to the folding of the face wall protrusions, or in a separate operation.

The location of bags of various sizes in the foregoing manner enables the folding of the first projecting flap of all of them to be carried out by a single non-adjustable shoe, movable along the line of intersection of the topand face-locating planes. The folding of the second projecting flap is carried out by tuckers or rollers movable over the top-locating plane, and the lengths of their strokes can also be constant if they are sufiicient to accommodate the greatest bag height to be handled. The tuckers or rollers are automatically moved lengthwise of the bags to accommodate length variations, under the control of limit switches, photo-electric cells, or proximity switches. Tuckers for side flaps need not be changed in location or stroke if sufficiently wide to handle the maximum package height. By these means, bags of different sizes can be closed in random order, without halting operations for readjusting the machinery.

The location of the bags can be performed by a pair of movable conveyor belts, whose surfaces are mutually perpendicular, and which engage the bottom of the bag and the face wall having the wider flap projection, respectively. If the boxes are inverted to rest on the face wall having the narrower flap projection of fixed width, these walls can be positioned in a fixed locating plane simply by being placed on a conventional fixed conveyor or table; it is then necessary only to provide a movable conveyor to variably position the bottoms of the bags.

An alternative apparatus for locating the face walls of the bags includes a table which is vertically movable, and is supported yieldably by spring or hydraulic pressure, so that each bag can be depressed until its first face wall is in the proper locating plane. The bag is pushed down by a fiat pusher plate, and/or by a folding shoe which folds the flap protrusion of the first face wall. The pusher plate then depresses the bag still further to carry it past fixed rollers, which fold the second flap protrusion upwardly over the face-locating plane. The transversely-movable conveyors, pusher plates, and the like which locate the bag are controlled by conventional positionaietecting apparatus, such as photo-electric cells, limit switches, or proximity switches.

While the specification concludes with claims particularly pointing out the subject matter which I regard as my invention, it is believed that a clearer understanding can be gained from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view showing one style of bag that may be used in practicing the invention, with a corresponding article inserted and ready for closure;

FIGURE 2 is a similar view showing a fragmentary portion of mechanism folding one face flap projection;

FIGURE 3 is a similar view showing mechanism folding side flap projections;

FIGURE 4 is a similar view showing mechanism folding a remaining face flap projection;

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 are fragmentary views in side elevation showing, respectively, an alternative style of bag usable in practicing the invention, the appearance of the bag after one face flap projection is folded, and the appearance after the side flaps are folded, leaving a remaining face flap protruding;

FIGURES 8, 9 and 10 are views corresponding respectively to FIGURES 5, 6 and 7, but showing still another style of bag usable for the practice of the invention in successive stages of folding;

FIGURE 11 is a schematic plan view showing a fragmentary portion of packaging apparatus according to the invention;

FIGURE 12 is a view in front elevation of the same apparatus;

FIGURE 13 is a view in side elevation showing another style of bag usable in practicing the invention;

FIGURES 14, 15 and 16 are views in side elevation of the bag of FIGURE 13, with a fragmentary portion of modified apparatus in successive stages of operation; and

. FIGURE 17 is a pictorial view of the bag of FIGURES 1316, shown in solid lines in a closed condition, and in dotted lines in the original open form.

An illustrative article 10 to be packaged is shown in FIGURE 1, inserted in a bag 12 of a special form suitable for use in practicing the invention. As the terms are used herein, the height of the article 10 is measured on the edges F or M, the width on the edges D or G, and the length on the edges C or N. The bag has a bottom CF lying in a plane defined by the correspondingly lettered edges, a first face wall CN correspondingly defined, a second face wall HG, and side walls FG. An opening for receiving the article 10 is defined by the edges JEJH. For purposes of use in the practice of the invention, the bag 12 is of a special form, having a first flap protrusion A extending from the first face wall CN a distance which is made uniform for all sizes of articles 10 and their corresponding boxes 12. The second face wall HG has a flap protrusion B whose width is not uniform for all articles, but is made sufficient to overlap the protrusion A when these protrusions are later folded over the edges N to close the package. That is, the width of the flap B must exceed the difference between the height dimension of the article measured along the edge M, and the width of the flap protrusion A. In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES l-4, the width of the flap protrusion B is slightly less than the full height of the package, since it is intended to fold the flap B before folding A.

-In FIGURES 24, it is assumed that the loaded box has been located in a manner which will be described hereinafter, in position for folding of the closure. In FIGURE 2, a pair of tuckers 14 have been extended in the directions shown by the arrows over the plane MN which coincides with the top surface of the enclosed article. This movement folds the flap protrusion B against the top of the article. At the same time, it draws portions of the side walls FG into partially folded side flaps K, with the edges I folded back on themselves. Since the length dimension along the edge N will vary for different packages, the tuckers are mounted on a lead screw 16, having its ends oppositely threaded, and connected to be rotated by a motor 18 to adjust the lengthwise spacing between the tuckers to suit the particular package. The drive mechanism for extending the tuckers is conventional, and is not illustrated. It will be observed that the width of the flap B is such that its edge H falls slightly short of the top edge N of the package. The stroke of the tuckers is constant, since boxes of any size will have the edge N in the same location.

As the tuckers are withdrawn downwardly, they are replaced by thin strips 15 illustrated in FIGURE 3, which are positioned by the lead screw 16 and extended by conventional drive mechanism which is not shown. These strips hold the flap B in place as a pair of side tuckers 17 are moved in the direction shown by the arrows, again by conventional drive means, to fold the side fiaps K flat against the top of the package. The surfaces of these flaps are pre-pasted or otherwise caused to seal against the flap B. The folding of the flaps K coincidentally folds end portions P of the flap A. The box is held in the same location as that of FIG. 2 for this operation.

Following the withdrawal of the tuckers 17 and the strips 15, the package is moved lengthwise in the direction shown by the arrow in FIGURE 4, while the face wall CN and the bottom CF are maintained in the same locating planes as in FIGS. 2 and 3. Consequently, the top edge N remains in its original rectilinear locus. A folding shoe 20 of a conventional type folds the flap A onto the top surface of the package during this motion. The flap A isv sealed by pre-pasting or in any other suitable way, to complete the packaging operation.

FIGURES 5, 6 and 7 show an alternative construction of the side walls, with parts similar to those of the bag of FIG. 1 similarly numbered, with prime superscripts. The edge I, rather than extending in a straight line from the end of the flap projection A to the end of the projection B, is cut with a double angle. Coincident with the folding of the flap B as shown in FIG. 6, the side flaps are partially folded along the line L. The bag is shown in FIG. 7 with the side flaps folded, leaving the flap A to be folded as suggested by the arrow.

In FIGURES 8, 9 and 10, another modification of the bag is shown with similar parts similarly lettered with double prime superscripts. In this case, the side wall protrusions terminate in a rectangular edge J", which is separated from the flap A as far as the edge M". The folding of the flap B", as shown in FIG. 9, partially folds the side flaps K along the line L".

From a comparison of the bag of FIGS. 1, 5 and 8, it will be apparent that the configuration of the edges J is not critical, but that it is only necessary that the flap projections A and B be properly proportioned as previously described.

FIGURES 11 and 12 schematically illustrate automatic means for properly positioning bags of different sizes according to the principles of the invention. The bottom CF of any bag must be so positioned that the top of the inserted article will be positioned in the top-locating plane MN; therefore, the bottom CF must be spaced a distance from this plane equal to the width of the article, or the distance in FIG. 11 between the edges C and N. A first bag 12A is shown so positioned, ready for the commencement of the folding operations. A succeeding bag 12B of a different size is shown in position on conveyor means ready to be located for folding. In FIG. 12, it will be seen that the baglZA is positioned with its first face wall CN properly positioned to coincide with a facelocating plane CN. The shoe 20, previously described, is positioned to engage the edge N along the line of intersection of the top-locating plane MN and the face-locating plane CN.

In order to position the variously-sized bags in this way, it is necessary to detect the particular dimensions involved, and for this purpose a series of banks of photoelectric cells 34, 36 and 38 is illustrated. The bags are brought to the folding station by means of a conveyor belt 22 against which the bottom surface CF rests, and a second conveyor 42 against which the face GH rests. The surfaces of the belts are at right angles to one another. As each successive bag passes the bank 36, its height is determined by the number of cells which it obscures. As only a discreet number of bag sizes are ordinarily involved, the photocell system can distinguish between the different sizes satisfactorily. The bank 38, positioned below the flap projections B, determines the width of the box. A third bank 34 is activated by one of the cells in the bank 38 to detect the length in terms of the distance of the leading side wall from the trailing side wall FG.

In the detection zone, the belts 22 and 42 are carried on conventional fixed roller supports 24 and 44, respectively. For correctly positioning the bags in the folding station, the belts are carried by movable roller supports 28 and 48, respectively, which are positioned by electric or hydraulic servo-motors 32 and 52 to move the belts as required. The servo-motor 32 is under the control of the bank 38 which determines the width of the bag, while the servo-motor 52 is under the control of the bank 36 which determines the height of the bag. The lengthdetecting bank 34 is used to control the motor 18, shown in FIG. 2, for properly spacing the tuckers 14.

The movements of the supports 28 and 48 necessitate the use of some means for maintaining a smooth transition ramp from the supports 24 and 44, and for this reason the belt 22 is looped on auxiliary rolls 26 and 30 associated with the supports 24 and 28, respectively, while the belt '42 is looped on auxiliary rolls 46 and 50 which are associated with the supports 44 and 48, respectively. It will be understood that the folding operations illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 are carried out while the conveyor belts are held stationary with the bag being folded in the position 12A. Both conveyors are then advanced to carry the bag under the shoe 20 for folding the flap A to complete the closure.

An alternative mode of practicing the invention is shown with a modified apparatus in FIGS. 13-16. The bag 120 shown in FIG. 13 with the corresponding article 100 inserted, also appears in an unfolded condition in dotted lines in FIG. 17, and in a folded and sealed condition in solid lines. In this case, the flap B is somewhat longer than in the preceding forms, so that it completely overlies the top surface to overlap the face wall CN in a fiap R.

The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1416 includes a yieldable supporting table 64, which is supported on columns 66 which are received in dashpots 70 and supported by yieldable means such as springs or variable displacement hydraulic chambers. The bottom surface CF is positioned by means such as the movable conveyor belt support 28 of FIG. 11, not shown in FIGS. 14-16, to bring the top surface of the article 100 into coincidence with the toplocating plane MN. A fiat pusher 60, driven by suitable servo-motor means which are not shown, presses against the face wall CN until this wall is in correct coincidence with the face-locating plane CN, depressing the supporting table 64 sufficiently for this purpose. Thereafter, the fiap A is folded by a shoe or shoes 62 which are driven by means which may be similar to those of the tuckers 14 in FIG. 2, but are not shown in FIG. 14.

Following these operations, the pusher 60 and shoe 62 are depressed still further to drive the bag downwardly past fixed rollers 68, which fold the flap B upwardly over the top surface MN. Subsequently, a suitable pushing element which is not shown moves the bag longitudinally; that is, in the direction of the edges C or N, past a supplementary folding shoe 72 shown in FIG. 16, which folds the fiap R onto the face wall CN. The direction of motion is indicated in FIG. 16 by the arrow perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. All of the fiaps are sealed by prepasting or in any other suitable manner.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the mode of practicing my improved method, and in the apparatus of the invention, without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, which I therefore intend to define in the appended claims without limitation to the details of the illustrated modes of practice or embodiments.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for packaging articles of varying length, width, and height, for use with selected bags each having an opening to receive the length-height dimensions of a selected article, having a first face wall terminating in a first projecting flap extending a first distance beyond the width of the selected article inserted in said bag, said first distance being substantially fixed for all of the various widths of particular articles, but being less than the height dimension of any of the articles; each of said selected bags having a second face wall parallel to said first face wall and terminating in a second projecting flap extending a second distance beyond the width of the inserted article, said second distance exceeding the difference between the height dimension of the inserted article and said first distance; and each of said selected bags having a bottom equal in length and height to the inserted article, and parallel side walls equal in height and at least equal in width to the inserted article;

said apparatus comprising, in combination;

means for locating the first'face wall of any selected bag, with the selected article inserted therein, in a predetermined face-locating plane;

means for moving the bottom of the selected bag to a position at a distance from a predetermined toplocating plane equal to the width of the inserted article; said face-and-top locating planes being mutually perpendicular;

first folding means for folding said first projection onto said top-locating plane;

and second folding means for folding said second projection onto said top-locating plane to overlap said first projection.

2. Apparatus as recited in claim 1, for use with selected bags in which the width of said side walls exceeds the width of the inserted articles and said side walls terminate in projecting side flaps; together with third folding means for folding said side flaps onto said toplocating plane.

3. Apparatus as recited in claim 1, in which at least one of said locating means comprises a movable support having motive means constructed and arranged for positioning said support in a direction normal to the corresponding locating plane, and detecting means for determining the dimension of each bag normal to said corresponding locating plane, said detecting means being connected to control said motive means for locating successive bags.

4. Apparatus as recited in claim 1, in which said locating means comprise two conveyor belts having fiat surfaces extending in mutually-perpendicular relation, and each being movable normally to its flat surface to locate said first face wall and said bottom.

5. Apparatus as recited in claim 1, in which said locating means for said first face wall comprises a resilientlysupported table extending parallel to said face-locating plane for supporting successive bags, said table being displaceable normal thereto, and movable pusher means for depressing said table to position said first face wall in said face-locating plane.

6. Apparatus as recited in claim 1, in which said first folding means is operable at one folding station and said second folding means at another folding station, together with means for transferring said bag in parallel relation to each of said locating planes from said one station to said other station.

7. The method of packaging articles of varying length, width, and height, which comprises the steps of:

selecting a bag having an opening to receive the lengthheight dimensions of a selected article, having a first face wall extending a first distance in excess of the width of the selected article to terminate in a first projecting flap, said first distance being substantially fixed for all of the various widths of particular articles, but being less than the height dimension of any of the articles; said selected bag further having a second face Wall parallel to said first face Wall and extending a second distance in excess of the width of the selected article to terminate in a second projecting flap, said second distance exceeding the difierence between the height dimension of the selected article and said first distance; said selected bag further having a bottom equal in length and height to that of the selected article, and having parallel side Walls equal to the height and at least equal to the Width of the selected article;

inserting the selected article in said selected bag;

locating said first face Wall in a predetermined facelocating plane;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,299,611 1/1967 Hendrick etal. -s3 39 0x 3,267,640 8/1966 Romney et a1. 53 75 15 THERON E. CONDON, Primary Examiner E. F. DESMOND, Assistant Examiner US. 01. X.R. 20 53-76, 378 

